Monsoon Youth is celebrating the roots of its history and would love for you to join us in that celebration! Although the program has expanded beyond theatre the mission remains the same: encourage youth through arts education in the Globe/Miami/San Carlos community. We are so thankful for all of the time and energy that has been poured into the program over the years and we look forward to providing the community with more opportunities to bravely explore new territory in their lives, whether it be on a plain sheet of paper or on a stage in front of hundreds.

In the coming weeks we will be releasing digitized photo albums from 1998 – 2014! We hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane.

Alice Alex in Wonderland [2003]

Suzanne Lederman, with Elaine Mooney, first had the idea for SYMTP after learning about a theatre camp in Michigan. It was Elaine who said, ‘Why can’t we do that here?'” Suzanne recalls. Suzanne began reaching out to community members to help put that first summer together, which included Diana Tunis (costumes, set and children’s art), Sherry Dodge (acting direction), Nora Aliprandini (grant writing) while Elaine tackled the singing direction and Suzanne choreography. In 1998, they performed their first production, Rumpelstiltskin, with a cast of 30 kids and a timeline of four weeks. “I’m thankful for how the program has turned out, because you know how you have those ideas that sound good but never actually do anything?” says Suzanne. Suzanne fulfilled the role of Program Director for the next seventeen years until 2014.

Interview with Suzanne Lederman – Conducted by Everett Cheng during [Aladdin : 2017]

Previous Albums